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Day six. Finals. U.S. Olympic Trials. *Pressure intensifies*
As we come down the back nine here in Omaha, almost all swimmers, minus the men tackling the 100 fly/50 free double and the women in the 100 free final tonight and 50 free starting tomorrow, are onto their last event of the meet. And for those in contention for Olympic qualification, but haven’t yet done so, it’s now or never.
We’ve got four more finals on tonight’s schedule, led off by the women’s 200 breaststroke, where Lilly King and Annie Lazor, training partners in Bloomington, come in favored to go 1-2, with Emily Escobedo projected to be a major factor as well.
King is the only swimmer in the field already qualified for the Olympic team, and Micah Sumrall, a 2012 Olympian in this event, is the only other swimmer that has ever qualified for the Games.
We’ll then have the men’s 200 back, where Ryan Murphy is a near lock to win, and the second spot is largely up for grabs. Murphy will be the elder statesman of the field at 25, with the rest of the heat aged 22 and under.
The third final of the night comes in the men’s 200 IM, which is expected to be Ryan Lochte‘s last race on U.S. soil. Lochte will need his best swim of the meet by far to qualify for a fifth straight Olympic team, with Michael Andrew head and shoulders ahead of the field in the semis after dropping a sizzling 1:55.26.
Chase Kalisz, the winner of the 400 IM on opening night, will be favored by many to snag the second spot. Carson Foster was painfully close to qualifying in the 400 IM, so this will be his last chance, and Andrew Seliskar scratched out of the 100 fly to put all his eggs in the medley basket (Andrew and Lochte also dropped the 100 fly).
Kieran Smith will also be dangerous, coming in with no pressure and nothing to lose after winning the 200 and 400 freestyle earlier.
The women’s 100 freestyle will be the last final of the night, with the top five seeds from the semis having yet to qualify for Tokyo. Olivia Smoliga and Natalie Hinds tied for the top time last night in 53.55, and Abbey Weitzeil, the 2016 Trials winner, was close behind in 53.66.
Allison Schmitt (200 free) and Kate Douglass (200 IM) are the only two swimmers in the field already qualified for the Games, with Catie Deloof, Linnea Mack and Erika Brown joining Hinds in the hunt to become a first-time Olympian.
With Simone Manuel failing to advance from the semis, this event has become completely wide open.
We’ll also see semi-final heats in the women’s 200 back and men’s 100 fly, where reigning world champions and world record holders Regan Smith and Caeleb Dressel headlining their respective fields.
Dressel has a shot to go sub-50 tonight after setting a U.S. Open Record of 50.17 in the prelims.
Every event on tonight’s schedule will include a current individual long course world record holder, other than the women’s 100 free.
Trenton Julian deserves a mention for taking on the Phelps double, as he’ll race the 200 IM final and 100 fly semi within 16 minutes of one another.
In undoubtedly the most emotionally-charged finish of the meet, training partners Annie Lazor and Lilly King went 1-2 in the women’s 200 breaststroke to officially punch Lazor’s ticket to Tokyo, with the 26-year-old claiming the win in a time of 2:21.07.
That showing falls just three-tenths shy of Lazor’s best time, set in 2019, and propels her into third in the world this season.
King took it out early, grabbing the lead with a 31.66 opening 50, but Lazor, Emily Escobedo and Bethany Galat stalked her down the second lap, and at the 100 turn, it was a four-way scrap.
Lazor blew by everyone on the third 50, splitting 35.97, and then extended the gap coming home for the victory.
King made a big push on the last length, pulling away from Escobedo and Galat to snag second in 2:21.75 and add a second event to her Tokyo schedule. This is King’s first “loss” in an Olympic Trials final, having gone 3/3 up until this point (I don’t think she minds).
King added a few tenths to her best of 2:21.39, set in May of 2019.
Escobedo and Galat, both 25, split the race almost identically, with Escobedo edging her on the last 50 to take third in 2:22.64, just off her PB of 2:22.00 set at the 2019 U.S. Open. Galat, who was a best of 2:21.77 in 2017, took fourth in 2:22.81.
The fourth-place time this year would’ve won the 2016 final by more than a second.
Ryan Murphy took control of the men’s 200 back final from the get-go and the win was never in doubt, as the defending Olympic champion touched first in a time of 1:54.20.
Murphy moves into second in the world rankings this season, and posts his fastest swim since the 2019 World Championships. It’s his seventh-fastest ever, having been sub-1:54 three occasions.
One of Murphy’s training partners at Cal, Bryce Mefford, moved into second, passing Austin Katz, on the third 50, and then charged down the last 50—even making up ground on Murphy.
Mefford came back in 29.46, the fastest in the field, to take second in 1:54.79, a massive best time and also the second consecutive 1-2 finish at Trials for Cal swimmers in this event. Mefford entered the meet with a 2019 best of 1:57.39, and then brought that down to 1:56.57 in the semis before this showing.
The 22-year-old is now the eighth-fastest American of all-time.
Katz took third in 1:55.86, adding a few tenths to his best time of 1:55.57, and NC State’s Hunter Tapp moved up from sixth at the 150 to snag fourth in 1:56.76, taking eight tenths off his PB set in the semis.
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